An Outing
by MikhailN
Summary: Just another short story. Enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

Walther's heels made a soft tapping sound that was almost equine as they struck the linoleum floor. Reaching one of the doors along the corridor of the girls' dormitory, he gave it a sharp knock and opened it. In the room there were five girls lounging around making small talk. This wasn't very surprising, for though the rooms were allocated to two girls per room the girls were free to move between rooms. Naturally that meant that they would gather in each other's rooms like a herd of animals. That was a little reassuring to Walther, for humans are social animals and this told him that at least some vestiges of humanity still remained even though physically they were so artificial that if you looked in the right place it wouldn't be strange to find the words "Made in Italy. Some assembly required. Batteries not included." in raised print.

"Here comes Walther, like a schoolboy asking his sweetheart if he could accompany her to class. Well, she's in the bath. Go look for her there," one of the girls piped up as they turned to look at him.

"Triela, is it? You know full well I can't do that. Anyway don't you have class soon? You'd better get going."

"Ok then. We'll leave the couple alone," Triela replied, giving him a sly wink. Suddenly the girls started to giggle and Triela started to grin broadly from ear to ear. "She was right. You are fun to harass. I can't wait to see what happens when she decides to use your lap as her personal armchair."

"Of all people she should know better."

"But she also knows that doing that gets a bigger reaction from you than screaming at you."

Just then he saw Daniela appear at the other end of the corridor. "HAVE THE DECENCY TO COVER UP BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE BATH," Walther hollered. She was standing there stark naked towelling the moisture out of her hair.

"What an insult. I thought you would want a good long stare. Isn't that why you came unannounced to the girls' dorm?" Daniela slowly wrapped the towel around herself. For some reason this drew a peal of girlish laughter from the room and he saw that they were rolling about on the floor or bed, in stitches. So, the girls derive the same kind of pleasure from all this as a schoolboy gets from pouring glue on his teacher's chair, Walther thought to himself. How childish. Then again, the girls were children.

"Completely wrong on that count. I got you the rest of the day off to take you around Rome, so get changed. And wear something decent this time," Walther said to Daniela, making sure that he was audible the five girls in the room. Then, he turned to them and flashed them a winning smile. "Enjoy your classes. I heard today's reading is 'As You Like It' by William Shakespeare," he said as he walked away. He could have sworn that Triela's blue eyes turned green with envy.


	2. Chapter 2

Donato was a deliveryman, at least for today. Fresh out of school, he had met a man who managed to convince him to join his organization. For about a year now he had been doing odd jobs for the organization and that meant menial work like heavy lifting and driving vehicles. Granted the pay was good but he didn't see much future in this. So when he was offered this job, he jumped at the opportunity to prove himself. All he had to do was to deliver this briefcase safely and he would be rewarded handsomely, and that generally meant promotion and money.

"Signor, could you help me? I'm lost," came a girl's voice from beside him. Donato turned and saw a teenage girl standing there in a pair of tight jeans and a track jacket, which was zipped halfway up, showing a particularly tight shirt underneath. She looked so helpless that he felt a compulsion to lend a hand, despite the situation. "My friend is waiting at Piazza Navona and I need to get there."

"Sure. Just go down that way and turn -"

She cut him off. "Oh no, I'm not good with directions. Could you take me there?" she asked pleadingly.

Donato thought for a moment, then relented. Besides, he thought to himself, the Piazza was along the way so it wouldn't be that big of an inconvenience. "Ok then, follow me," he said to the girl and they set off.

Very soon, he ran into trouble. They were taking a shortcut when he found their path blocked. A fairly well-built man stood in their way and said, "Signor, is that Semtex or are your people still using fertilizer and nails?" Since there was no one else beside the three of them in this quiet alleyway, the question was clearly directed at him. Indeed it was fertilizer, but for this man to know the contents of the briefcase meant that he was from the police or some law enforcement organization out to stop him.

"Get behind me and cover your ears," Donato said quietly to the girl following him. Walther heard that and gave a short laugh. "Signor, she's the last person that needs protection right now. Why don't you just surrender and we can call it a day."

The reason why Donato was holding the briefcase in his left hand was to leave his right hand free for situations like this. The man was unarmed while Donato had a Beretta handgun in his coat. If he drew fast he might be able to catch him off guard. Donato's right hand made a sudden movement for his pistol but was stopped by a girl's hand holding on to his wrist. "Please don't do it Signor," came that same innocent voice pleading with him. He was about to push her away when he decided against it, for he felt a gun barrel on the back of his head and the ominous click of the safety catch being flipped off an H&K USP Tactical.


	3. Chapter 3

Walther was quite pleased. The shock of Daniela pulling the gun on him was too much and he became quite obedient for a while. That was good, for he managed to get him to put down the briefcase, take off his coat and after a quick check to make sure that he didn't have any explosive device or sharp object on him, they both restrained him. Now with his wrists tied together with PlastiCuffs, he was sitting cross-legged on the floor and there was no way of running away without being grabbed by Walther or shot by Daniela, who was sitting about five feet away with the USP still in her hand. Walther went over to the rubbish lying around and found a usable chair. He pulled it right in front of the prisoner and sat down.

"Morning. Despite what you think, I am not a monster, though I cannot say the same for my employers. I am a civil man doing a job and I feel that it's improper to work with someone without knowing his name. Would you like to introduce yourself?" The prisoner responded with a steely gaze.

"No names? That's fine with me, though there is the problem of how to address you. Since I'm a civil man, we shall call you Signor. Does that sound ok with you Daniela," asked Wather, giving a quick glance to Daniela. Without taking her eyes off Signor, she gave a little nod.

"Ok that's settled then." Turning back to Signor, Walther continued, "So tell me what you are doing with a bunch that plants bombs? Do you have a family to feed or are you the type that takes great pleasure in shooting someone's kneecaps and watching them squirm on the ground?"

At that Signor snapped back, "I am a soldier of -" and was promptly cut off by Walther, who had swung his leg up, causing his foot to connect with his jaw.

"Spare me the rhetoric. So you're the type that fancies himself as a freedom fighter or a hero of the republic." Walther gave a short laugh. Gesturing to the briefcase that had been in Signor's hand less than half an hour ago, Walther carried on talking, "If you had armed that bomb, do you know how many people would have been killed? Better yet, how many of them would be armed? If you were a soldier, you would be tried for war crimes at the Hague. If you were a soldier, you would have taken an oath to protect your country, not make it any more chaotic than it already is. Do you still consider yourself a soldier?"

"- you," spat Signor, hurling an expletive at Walther. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Daniela start to raise her pistol so he quickly swung his leg up to connect with Signor's jaw once again.

"Hey Signor, let me tell you something. I am a civil man, but don't you DARE mistake civility for weakness. The reason why you're alive is because my orders are to take you back, alive if possible or dead if necessary and trust me when I say that you don't want the latter. Also, the reason why I'm sitting here less than a few feet away from an exploding briefcase full of nails bombarding you with rhetorical questions is because I'm supposed to hand you over to a bunch of guys who will be here in half an hour and I need to kill time, no pun intended. So if you think that we're having this conversation to make you see the error of your ways and teach you how to fit back into society then you're sorely mistaken. The only thing I need to teach you here is that you need to show respect to the man with the girl with the gun."

Walther then leaned forward in his chair. "Listen well. I don't hate your kind. Rather, I _despise_ your kind. You all are filled with romantic notions that you're liberating your country heroically. What you all don't realize is that the whole thing is a flimsy justification for you to kill random people. Do you really think that blowing up a bus will help you win the hearts and minds of the masses? In the end everyone is just a weapon. Your bosses wouldn't want to dirty their hands planting bombs so they find a fanatic who wouldn't mind. You are just doing their dirty work for them and if you make it back alive, then you'd just be passed more dirty work to do. That being said, I am a weapon too. When my commander decides to have a fight with your boss, he sends out his weapons to see which is sharper. I think it's obvious who won this fight."

"You can't hurt me. This is illegal. Where's your warrant? You better have a team of good lawyers when I get out."

At that Walther burst out laughing until tears of mirth came to his eyes. Finally after a full minute he spoke up, "I applaud your bravery, you poor misguided thing. Sometimes, to protect their citizens from fools like you the government finds it necessary to go around the very laws they set. Besides, Neither Daniela nor I exist on any government records at all. In a few minutes you'll share this peculiar trait with us, because I believe a bunch of merry men are here to pick you up."

Five men were walking down the alleyway, two with guns in their hands and Walther waved to them. "Hi there. Here's a particularly vocal one. The briefcase isn't armed yet, but I'd get a squad to look at it if I were you." Then, turning to his prisoner, he gave him a mocking smile. "If your lawyers are interested, my last known address was Sankt Augustin, Germany. If you live long enough to get out, that is."

One of the men walked over and tapped Walther on the shoulder. "We'll take it from here," was all he said.

"That's good." Then, standing up and beckoning to Daniela, he said, "Put that gun away and come here. That's a good girl. For a job well done, you've earned yourself the rest of the day off. We'll go to the Piazza Navona. I heard that the pasta there is quite good. Then we'll go shopping. How's that sound to you?"

"Wonderful," was Daniela's reply.


End file.
